Massive gaming ping fluctuation - I’ve tested everything

I have been battling Cox on these issues for just under a year now since COVID started. The problem is nearly all of their nodes that your modem is directly connected to are well over 100% utilization which causes incredible packet loss and spikes. The internet speeds usually aren't effected but the latency and packet loss is definitely noticeable. There are two things you can do and that is to file an FCC complaint about the packet loss and you will be able to talk to their actual engineers who are "diligently" working to split these nodes to help with saturation. They will probably give you some date that is months and months away when your node will be fixed and they get away with this without even a slap on the wrist because they have a "plan" to fix it. The ISP monopoly has been a travesty for years and COVID has only made it much worse and noticeable. The second thing you can do is go to https://fairshake.com/ to ask for a settlement to reduce your bills or pay you back for their service they aren't able to reliably provide. Don't take the first offer because it will be very low for what they actually deserve from this country wide failure.

It's not just you! I've had issues for months now and live in So Cal. I've contacted cox.help twice with no response and I've seen a lot of unhappy gamers who are having the same issue with latency on these forums. Cox has not upgraded their infrastructure to meet the new demands for the heavier traffic that has happened from the pandemic. I seem to get a high ping to UE servers but not a lot of fluctuations but when I connect to west coast and east coast game servers its all over the place making it impossible to enjoy a gaming session. I've worked with my main game support we trace routed the issue to the last mile on Cox's networks. They just keep giving everyone the run around and I bet they are just hoping it will fix it's self instead of spending money to correct the issues. Penny wise and pound foolish. Gaming does not need bandwidth it needs LOW LATENCY! If you pay for Elite Gamer on Cox you are getting screwed cause you shouldn't need any of that **. It is wacked to see people having to buy new equipment and rewire there houses and have numerous tech's out to the house with no fix. The network engineer's at Cox seem to be useless and they are the ones that are responsible for making sure we get what we pay for. Look into fiber in your area or other options. The sad truth is until you hit them in the wallet they don't seem to do jack to correct the issue. Maybe when they start losing customers to better service in your area they might do something about it.

I have the same issues as well.  I would just file a complaint with the FCC at this point.  It looks like COX's strategy is to close their eyes and open them when the pandemic winds down.  I would also try supporting any efforts for municipal fiber.  At this point in my life, I am seriously considering running for office just to resolve this.

Unfortunately, I have a similar experience in Arizona. 

I've upgraded my router a couple times, bought my own compatible cable modem, had techs come out several times, had them rerun cable at the house, paid for the upgraded support only to tell me it's issues with the node in my area.  I've had this issue for years and if there were any alternatives in my area I would have taken it a while ago.